Map of the Dead - General Gameplay
When first starting out in Map of the Dead you are equiped only with a butter knife and no attire (save your pants - for the sake of decency). You set out and establish a base of operations in the location designated either by using your current GPS location, or you can specify a physical address. It is recommended that your base be setup someplace you have regular access to since you will want to be able to deposit items of value for later use. Your scanner has a limited, but adjustable range. The initial setting is the minimum range of .3KM, but by touching the scanner icon on the bottom right of the scanner screen, you can set your range to greater intervals of .6KM, 1.2KM, and 2.4KM. The greater your range is set to, the more locations you will be able to show on your scanner at any given time. On the map you will see various icons, these are "known locations" and they vary depending on the type of known location. There are Outposts, Overrun Outposts, Hotspots, and various classifications of "scavengable" locations. To view the details of a location you can simply touch the icon and additional information will appear on your scanner. If you prefer, you can press the "LIST" tab at the top of the scanner screen and get a list of all locations sorted alphabetically, by type, with any nearby bases (yours or those belonging to other players) at the bottom. In the list view, you can see details on overrun outposts and hotspots that indicate how many undead are present to be destroyed. Once you touch on an icon, you will be presented with information on how many undead you have encountered. At this point you have three options, FIGHT , SNEAK , or RUN AWAY. Sneak is not an available option when viewing hotspots or overrun outposts. Make your selection wisely. If you select fight, you will have to have a weapon equipped in your "ITEMS" screen. If you select to sneak, you may get caught and be forced to run away or fight. If you run away, you will lose ammo (the in-app currency) in an amount equal to your player level. With general (scavengable) locations, you can only scavenge once every 5 hours. Succeed or fail, it makes no difference to the timer. If you are successful in sneaking past the zombies, or you fight them and defeat them all, you can then scavenge the location for any goodies that may be lying about the place. Be sure you have room in your inventory to carry items, and leave items of little, or no value behind if needed, but once you select "DONE" on your scavenging screen, you cannot return to that location for 5 hours. Outposts and Hotspots are not subject to the 5-hour timer. You can attack them as frequently as you are able until all the undead are dispatched. Once cleared, the outpost will be available to you and any outfit members you may be associated with. Hotspots, once cleared, become outposts. Outposts can be upgraded to slow the return of zombies and can also be used to leave supplies for later retrieval or for members of your outfit. The scanner uses a left-side navigation bar to grant access to the following features: Map, Items (inventory), Dossier (your stats), Unit (other players you are working together with), Requisitions (buy/sell supplies), Upgrades (in-app purchases to aid in gameplay), and Stats (compare yourself with other players). You can also adjust settings and turn off your scanner by signing out.